NASA announced its 2021 astronaut candidate class on Dec. 6, 2021. The 10 candidates, pictured here with Johnson Center Director Vanessa Wyche in an event at Ellington Field near NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston are Nichole Ayers, Christopher Will

Photo Date: 12/06/2021 Subject: NASA announced its 2021 astronaut candidate class on Dec. 6, 2021. The 10 candidates, pictured here with Johnson Center Director Vanessa Wyche in an event at Ellington Field near NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston are Nichole Ayers, Christopher Williams, Luke Delaney, Jessica Wittner, Anil Menon, Marcos Berríos, Jack Hathaway, Christina Birch, Deniz Burnham, and Andre Douglas. NASA’s new astronaut candidates will begin about two years of training in January 2022, after which they could be assigned to missions performing research on the International Space Station, launching from American soil on spacecraft built by commercial companies, and launching on Artemis missions to the Moon on NASA’s new Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System rocket. Photographers: James Blair